Automatic weighing machine



April 8, 1924. 1,489,676

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' A. SMITH ET AL AUTOMATI G WEIGHING MACHINE Filed D60; 1 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 April 8, 1924. 1,489,676

. A. SMITH ET AL AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 1. 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 April 8 1924.

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April 8', '1924: 1,489,676

' I A. SMITH ET AL AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 1, 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 12. 8.1%, fivja v Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PLATE NT OF FlC E ARTHUR smrrn, cmusrornlm @SOUTHALL, AND RALPH 1mm rmrmnen, or

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS T BOUTHALL & SMITH LIMITED, or ,BIR-

MINGHAM, ENGLAND.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINE.

Appllcationnled December 1, 1922. Serial No. 604,396.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR SMITH, CHRISTOPHER SOUTHALL, and RALPH BERT PARTRIDGE, British subjects, residing at'Villa I Street Works, Hockley, in the city of Birmingham, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Automatic Weighin Machines, of which the following is a speci cation.

This invention relates to automatic machines for weighing tea, powdered, granular and other like materials, and has for its object to construct an improved machine whereby rapid weighing can be obtained with a highde ree ofaccuracy. The machine forming t esubject of thisinvention is of the type in which the material is first approximately weighed in the upper of a pair of superimposed weigh pans each'carried on its own Wei h beam, the weighing being completed in t e lower pan.

In the nine accompanying sheets of explanatory drawings Figs. 1 and 1 are elevational views which when considered together form a complete ,front elevation and'Figs; 2 and 2 when-considered together form a rear elevation of a weighing machine constructed in'accordance with this invention, a part ofthe case" being broken away in each view'to show'the interior mechanism.

Figure'3 is an'end elevationjdf the'weigh pan end of the machine and Figure 4 is a plan of themachine.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation showing the mechanism for'feeding the 11 per weigh pan, and Figure 6 a like view 0 the "mechanism for feeding the lower an.

Figures 7 and 8am side e evations illustrating the main 'clutch'controlling mechanism, the electromagnet' actin 'onone'end of the clutch releasing lever being shown at Figure/7, and the clutch'releasing device at the other'end of the lever beingshown at Figure-8,

In carrying the invention into efiect as shown there are'mounted beneathaplatform 'a'a pair of superimposedwei beams-b, c. The beam 6 carriesw an which its lower end is "fitted wit "hinged discharge doors e. "The'beam c'carries a i an and 'this' also at its lower-end is fitte *with discharge doors g. The panrd delivers into f, and the latter'diseharges into themeptaeles of material.

placed to receive the properly weighed quantities of material, such as tea.

Above the platform is arranged a hopper h into which the material to be weighed is supplied,'-and between the hopper and the platform is a compartment 2' containing at one side a measuring device j and a dribble feeder k (Figure 5) both delivering into the upper pan d. Behind the parts 7' and is is a chute Z fitted at its lower end with a dribble feeder m arranged to discharge directly into the lower pan f (Figure 6).

The measuring device 7', which consists of a system of'radial vanesas shown, or a rotatable cylinder having one or more pockets opening into: its'periphery, is operated once in each'cycle of operations through a sufficient number of revolutions, or part of a revolution, to deliver fromthe hopper to the by gear wheels 9, sprocket q, chain 7' and sprockets, the latter being formed with or "secured to a sleeve t" freely mounted on a driving spindle u and actuated as hereinafter described.

Both dribble 'feeders k," m are rotated continuously by a sprocket 'v on the spindle u,

motionbeing transmitted to the feeder k by a chain '0 and sprocket w, and to the feeder by sprockets any and chain 2. To controlthe flow of material to the feeder k Tan oscillatoryfshutter 2 isarranged over it as shown in Figure 5 ;the flow to the feeder is likewise controlled by an oscillatory shutter '3. In Figures 5 and 6 both. shutters are shown closed, and in that condition no material would'pass. "The shutter 2 is actuated'by' a lever 4,1ink5 and levero (Figure 1). The latter is moved in a direction 'for"openingthe' shutter by a cam 7 on the shaft 8, and is closed by the actionon the said lever of a spring 9. The shutter is held ope'nfor' therequired interval by the interactiono'facatchm on'the rear end of the -lever anda sprin controlled hinged armature' 11, the latterfia 'tionforreleasingthe lever "by an electro- "m'agnet lfl. Goncurrentlywith this opening eing' moved in the direcmovement of the lever 6 the said lever also transmits motion through a link 13 to a lever 11'- which presses a movable electric contact 15 into abutment with a stationary contact 16 in the magnet circuit. Before the magnet is energized it is necessary for the upper beam 6 to close another switch consisting of a stationary contact 17 and a movable contact 18 which is actuated by a projection 19 on the beam.

The shutter 3 is actuated by a lever 20, link 21 and lever 22 (Figure The opening movement is imparted by a cam 23 on the shaft 8, and the closing movement by a spring 2%. The shutter is held open by the interaction of a catch 25 and hinged spring controlled armature 26, the latter be ing released by an electromagnet 27. The lever 22 also operates through a link 28 switch controlling lever and switch similar to that above described in conjunction with the magnet 12. The electromagnet 27 is und r the control of a switch formed by a stationary contact 29 and movable contact 30 operated by a projection 31 on the lower beam 0. A third electromagnet 56 controls the starting mechanism of the machine.

Opening of the hinged doors 0. g. at the lower ends of the pans (l, f is effected from a pair of cams 32. 33 on the shaft 8. The cam '32 acts on a lever 3i. and the motion is transmitted through a link 35 to a lever 36 which is secured to a forked lever 3? arranged to operate on toggles 38 connected with the doors 6 (Figure 5). Closing of the doors after the operation of the cam is effected by a spring 39. Likewise the doors 9 are operated from the cam 33, through a lever 40, link 41, lever 42 and forked lever 43 acting on the toggles 44s, the closing being effected by a spring 45.

The motion of the different mechanisms is derived from the continuously rotating shaft 2/. This is provided with a gear wheel 46 engaging a gear wheel i7 freely rotatable on the shaft 8. In conjunction with the wheel 17 is provided any ordinary form of clutch whereby the said wheel can be temporarily connected to the shaft 8. The clutch is actuated by a lever 48 (Figure 8) which moves round with the clutch. lVhen the lever is arrested by its engagement with a movable stop 49 on the platform f(- it releases the clutch. On withdrawal of the stop the lever is moved by a spring 50 into position for engaging the clutch and putting the shaft 8 in motion. During its rotation the said shaft revolves the aforesaid came 7, 23, 32, 33 and also a disc 51 provided with lateral pegs 52 which engage a star wheel 53 on the sleeve t, the motion of the latter serving to operate the measuring device y' above described. The pegs 52 subtend only a suitable portion of the disc 51, usually about one half, so that motion is imparted to the star wheel during only a part of the rotation of the disc, that motion being appropriately timed in relation to the operations of the aforesaid cams on the shaft 8. In each cycle of operations the shaft 8 performs one revolution.

The stop 1'9 is actuaed by a lever 5i (Figures 7, S) from the hinged armature 55 of the electromagnet To follow the cycle of operations it is best to start with the upper pan fall. and the weighing in the lower pan approaching completion. The dribble flow into the lower pan through the feeder m continues until the weigh beam tilts. This action of the beam closes the switch 36 and thereby cause; the excitation of both the magnets 27 and 56. The effect of the magnet 27 is to release the lever 22 and allow the shutter 3 to be closed by the spring The supply to the lower hopper then ceases. The ell'ect of the magnet is to withdraw the. stop 1-9 from the clutch lever 48. and allow the clutch to come into action. thereby setting the shaft 3 in motion. During the following single revolution of the said shaft each of the above described parts actuated by the same is brought into operation. The lirst action is that of the cam 33 which depresses the lever 4-0 and opens the doors :7 of the lower pan. allowing the contents of that pan to be discharged. As soon as the lever 16 is released the doors are closed by the spring 15. lmn'iediateiy after the cam 32 comes into action and opens the doors 0 of the upper pan, allowing the contents of that pan to fall into the lower pan. At proper intervalsthe cams 7 and 23 also come into action causing the shutters 2 and 3 of the dribble feeds to open. Also the disc 51 imparts, through the star wheel 53 the required motion to the measuring device j. At the end of this motion the clutch is disengaged by the stop 49, and the shaft 8 remains at rest until the next weighing has been completed. After the measuring device has delivered the predetermined quantity of material to the upper pan. the dribble feed 7; continues the supply until the upper beam 1; is tilted. The switch 18 is then closed and the magnet 12 caused to release the lever 6 and allow the shutter 2 to be closed by the spring 0. Meanwhile material is flowing through the dribble feeder m to the lower pan to make up to the proper weight the material previously delivered by the upper pan. At. the completion of this operation. the lower beam 0 tilts, causing the switch 30 to be closed, and above described cycle of operations is then repeated.

By this invention we are able to obtain the desired high speed of working and accurate weighing with mechanisms which are relatively simple and robust.

Having thus described our invention what we claimv as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an automatic wei hing machine, the combination with a weig beam and a pan carried on the beam, of a continuously rotating feeding device for delivering material to the weigh pan, and a' shutter under the control of the beam for preventing access of material to the feeding device, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic weighing machine, the combination with a weigh beam and a weigh pan carried on the beam, of an intermittenty rotated feeding device for delivering a bulk of material to the weigh pan, a continuously rotating feeding device for delivering a relatively small quantity of material to the an, and a shutter under the control of the cam for preventing access of material to the second named feeding device, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic weighin machine having the features claimed in c aim 2, the combination with the intermittently rotated feeding device, of a slide for regulating the uantity of material admitted to the said evice, substantially asdescribed.

4. In an automatic weighing machine, the combination with a pair or superim osed with shutter under the control of the upper shaft,

weigh beams and a weigh pan on each eam,

beam for supplying material to the upper pan, and a continuously rotating feedin device with shutter under the control 0 the lower beam for supplying material to the lower pan, substantially as described.

5. In an automatic weighing machine as claimed in claim 4, the combination comprising mechanically operated means for opening and retaining the shutters of the continuously rotating feeding devices, electromagnetic means under the control of the weigh beams for releasing the shutters, and springs for closing the shutters, substantially as described.

6. In an automatic weighing machine, as claimed in claim 4, the combination comprising a hinged door or doors beneath each weigh pan, a rotatable shaft, cams on said means for transmitting opening movements from the cams to the weigh pan doors and to the shutters of the continuously rotating feedin devices, springs for closing the door and t e shutters, electromagnetic means under the control of the beams for controlling the rotation of the shaft and for releasing said shutters, and means for transmitting motion from said shaft to the intermittently rotated feeding device of the upper pan, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

ARTHUR SMITH. CHRISTOPHER SOUTHALL. RALPH BERT PARTRIDGE. 

